


to our dead purity buried in the back

by seperent



Series: the legacy [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fire kids, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lu Ten Being a Good Cousin, Pre-Canon, Sort of? - Freeform, but he is also sad, is anyone going to parent them?, lu ten is giving hugs, lu ten looked at them and said
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seperent/pseuds/seperent
Summary: Lu Ten still doesn’t knows what lays ahead of him — maybe war, or death, or something else, and it makes him nervous, but he can’t really afford being nervous when there are two similar pairs of golden eyes before him.World is so unfair sometimes.
Relationships: Azula & Lu Ten, Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Lu Ten & Zuko
Series: the legacy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018383
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	to our dead purity buried in the back

**Author's Note:**

> this is part of my au-series that didn’t fit into timeline but also can be read separately.

Everyone who thinks the palace is not a lively place is deeply mistaken or never have been on the lower levels because that’s where life is in the full swing. 

Servants are running here and there with full hands, speaking in loud voices which intertwine with sounds of dishes, running water and bickering. 

Kitchen is probably one of Lu Ten’s favourite places as that’s where he can sit motionlessly and silently and still feel alive, because it’s impossible not to, when things around you boil and you can feel every brick the floor is made of. 

Servants peek in because someone upstairs demanded refreshments, the girl who is washing the huge plates with small hands is splashing water, annoyed, because  _ no she can’t do it faster _ , also who let the cat in?, and the main old cook runs the place with an enormous ladle. 

She always chooses the best bits for Lu Ten and ruffles his hair like she did when he was seven even though now she needs to stand on her tiptoes yet he is sitting. This was the best place to spend time when he was a boy, though then his mama was with him and enjoyed it even more than he did. He was in usually for sweets, but mama chatted with everyone including young dishwashers who’ve barely reached adolescence. Mama always did what she wanted, he remembers it’s really well. 

The cook — Nala — says that when she was there everything was better. 

Mama was against early training and that’s made everyone more than confused, even his dad, because who in their right mind would be against early training because this is great honour if the child has ability?

Lu Ten started training at six years old and not a day earlier. 

  
  
  
  


Though, today he’s not alone here either. 

His cousins are really different, but right now they are scowling pretty much the same and he would laugh, but he still needs his fingers, thank you very much. He is looking at them and wondering when was the last time they were allowed to have fun. 

Lady Ursa has a different vibe with her than the other part of the family, but also than his mother. Yet he still has the blanket Ursa's embroidered for him when he wasn’t born yet — and it’s all heavy in his mind. 

He knows that his uncle unlike his father wouldn’t listen to his wife just because. 

But his mother is dead, Ursa is more distant than usual, dad is fully in his war plans, and he.. He is leaving really soon. 

He hates nothing more than useless adults. 

  
  


On the left, Lu Ten has Zuko, who is staring at everything with huge eyes — he’s probably never been there before and he’s literally devouring everything he can see, but when he catches Lu Ten looking at him, he just turns his eyes to his hands fast. 

Zuko is different from Lu Ten at that age. When he was nine, he was much more interested with people outside like his cousin with his scrolls and books, but Zuko is also much  _ softer _ than he was at that age. 

He loves theaters and one time they went together, just two of them, Lu Ten was barely catching up to the plot because everything seemed to happen so fast, but that wasn’t the matter. 

The matter was his finally bright-eyed cousin rambling endlessly about everything at once, then silencing himself, guilty. 

Lu Ten had only one choice — to ask. 

— So, you think he did it because he was confused or because he’d planned it before?

Zuko’s eyes lit up again. 

  
  


Azula is  _ not looking _ , and she makes sure he sees that she's not looking, because she isn’t interested in something like that at all. She expressly shows how she’s disinterested and bored. When she thinks he’s not looking, she lets a few glances slip. 

Lu Ten is more than familiar with the concept — don’t want anything so nothing can be taken from you, because if not you are not waiting, you can’t be disappointed. It gets easier and easier until it’s just boring.

Azula is epitome of it. 

But he knows too well to be misguided with her facade, because he can see interest in the way her fingers rub each other and lines underneath her brows move a little like she’s thinking hard — all this is different from her usual composure. 

They are here for a reason. 

Lu Ten found them in different parts of palace and said that he wants to show them something, after he picked them up — first Zuko, who was busy studying scrolls and he can’t help but feel sad how he suddenly becomes not that radiant-happy when he knows Azula is going to join. But he is too interested in something Lu Ten has to show, so he stays. 

Azula is going through her katas when they reach her room, and Lu Ten sees envy in Zuko’s eyes, so he hurries to distract her. Azula hesitates, glancing at Zuko, but finally agrees. 

They are overwhelmed by the kitchen's size and it’s understandable, because he was too. 

Nala is more than happy to see him and even more happy to see that he took other people with him — more people to feed anyway — and she sits them on the grand table and rushes away to bring them something to eat. 

  
  


Back to business. 

He looks at them and something heavy inside him dwells. 

— What was the point of bringing us here? I have places to be and training to do. 

Azula is good at being demanding and also good at mimicking high-positioned people. And usually she is different when they are just two of them, but now Zuko is here, and she is nervous, he sees it. He questions if it would be better to talk with them separately. 

He doesn’t know how to say it, so he says how it is. Ahead of him is Earth Kingdom, war and a series of days. His sword is probably being polished somewhere right now. 

  
  
  
  


— So you’re leaving? 

Azula is full of rage and something else that hurts too much for him to name, and he sees she is exactly in the moment from crying. He feels so helpless, mad at the world and everyone in particular, because his young cousin is crying there, and he can’t do  _ anything  _ about the reason for it. He knows she won’t let anyone, especially Zuko, see her. So she does what an ordinary scared and confused child would, but because this is Azula, it’s not ordinary at all. She runs away. 

  
  


Zuko looks at him with huge glassy eyes, and he looks confused, Lu Ten supposes he is not used to seeing his sister emotional? He just don’t know what to fucking do because he is on the verge of tossing everything away, grabbing his cousins and leaving somewhere, doesn’t matter. But his soldier’s clothes, readied already, are dead weight in his room and he doesn’t know if he hates anything in the world more?

Lu Ten needs to do something, and he’s not good with words and comforting at all, but he can try, it’s the least thing he can do. 

He leads silent Zuko away from the kitchens, and they need to find Azula, but Zuko just doesn’t move, staring at something he can’t really see. Then he looks at Lu Ten. 

— I’m scared. 

It sounds like a confession, and maybe, for Zuko it is. 

— I am too — I don’t know if I’ve ever been more scared than now. Everyone at some point is. 

And that’s true — Lu Ten is afraid of war, but he’s even more afraid of leaving them here. 

Zuko starts crying and Lu Ten hates that he can’t do anything so he just holds his brother close to him and whispers. 

— When I’m going to come back, promise you won’t be taller than me? I won’t be able to handle the humiliation. 

And Zuko laughs, breathy, nearly soundless, through the tears. 

— Look after Azula — I am not going to be able to, so I’ll need you to do this. 

He brings out the map he wanted to give him under other circumstances. That’s the map two of them used to examine together when Zuko was much younger and had problems with geography and tutors. That was their favourite game after, to find places, name them and tell the stories acquainted. Now that’s the only way for him to have it. 

Zuko is hesitant. 

— Your… your map? But.. how are you going to be without it?

— I want you to have it here. 

Zuko is hesitant, but also happy. 

Lu Ten also remembers that while they are talking, Azula is somewhere. 

— Do you want to go find Azula with me? — he quickly adds, — It’s okay if you don’t. 

Zuko hides his eyes, and Lu Ten is sad, not because of him, but for him, being pitted against his sister and not even able to believe that she is able to cry. 

  
  
  


Azula is not crying, she is firebending forcefully, going through an advanced set and her face features are all scrunched up. 

  
  


— Azula, I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier, but wasn’t even able to sort it out in my head. 

Her eyes snap to him when he apologizes, surprised. She stops exercising, but still doesn’t turn to him. 

— I have a gift for you, if you’d like to accept it. 

She now turns to him fully. 

— You do not understand? I don’t want your gifts!

Azula stomps, full and clear in her rage, waving her little fists in front of his face. 

— I want you to stay here! 

Lu Ten is really, really close to crying himself even if it would be totally inappropriate. 

Instead, he just hugs her and Azula struggles but then starts crying, wailing like a little dragon. 

— I’ll come back, and everything will be the same, I promise you. We will finish that scroll, and another one, and the one I got you today. And then we’ll go to the market, in the spring. Write to me, cousin, will you?

She sniffles, her face on his shoulder, not looking at him. 

— Will you send a real knife from the war to me?

Lu Ten smiles, picks her up (and can’t even imagine that the next time they meet it might be much harder for him, but now he does because he can, and she squirms a little, but giggles), and takes her to the gardens to finish the book. 

— Of course I will, La. 

He’ll come back, and there still will be gardens, and his people, and springs, a lot of springs ahead of him, and his cousins. 

There will be. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading!  
> so i made myself sad and im having The Lu Ten Feelings right now  
> also i have headcanon that Lu Ten mother was as much baddie as ursa was but she also had supportive husband
> 
> tell me everything u have to say and take care please!!


End file.
